The Way It Should Be
by FunkyBubble14
Summary: Rosie and Albert one-shot. Shameless fluff. Albert comes to his senses a little earlier on in the show.


**"The Way It Should Be"**

**I don't own Bye Bye Birdie. Not the characters, not the songs, NOTHING. Enjoy!**

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Albert could hardly believe his luck so far. The trip from New York to Sweet Apple had gone off without a hitch, and they were already getting Conrad settled in, meeting the mayor...  
The mayor! Albert slapped a hand to his forehead. He was supposed to be making a speech when Conrad was introduced to the mayor of Sweet Apple.  
"Where is it?" he muttered, frantically checking his pockets for the speech. Maybe it was in the briefcase? That must be it. The speech was in the briefcase, which he had left at the train station with Rose.

Albert half-jogged, half-ran back to the train station. When he arrived on the platform, he saw that Rose was sitting on a bench, alone, clutching his briefcase. She hasn't noticed him yet. Albert almost called out to her, but stopped when he realized...  
_She's singing_, Albert thought. _Never heard her sing before. But I suppose she must have a _little_ bit of interest in music, if she's working at a music company.  
_Albert began to hope that Rose wouldn't notice him, at least not right away. He wanted to hear what she was singing.

_"When will he find out?  
__This is what life is all about.  
__Will he ever see I need him and he needs me?"_

_Rose needs me,_ Albert thought. _Rose..._needs_ me._ It had always been clear to Albert that he needs Rose, but to think that he depended on him just as much...  
Albert shook his head. He shouldn't have been getting distracted; the mayor would have wanted to start his speech soon and the last thing Albert wanted to do was hold him up. He needed his speech. He stepped forward.

"Rose, is my spe-"  
"Albert!" she cried. Rose jumped to her feet, still clutching the briefcase.  
"I...I didn't see you there." She looked up at Albert and their eyes met; in that moment all thoughts of mayors and speeches departed Albert's mind at once.  
"I heard what you were singing!" he blurted out. Rose blushed and held his briefcase even tighter against her chest.  
"You did?"  
"Yeah," he said, stepping nearer. "You...you really need me?" he asked softly. Rose laughed nervously, pushing some hair out her face.  
"Of course! Of course I do... but it's more than just that. I _love_ you, Albert. You know that, right?"  
Albert nodded. "Yeah! Of course I know that."

Rose sighed and sat down on the bench again, setting the briefcase on her lap; Albert joined her.  
"Kim and her friends were here earlier. I couldn't help but feel...jealous," she admitted. Albert frowned.  
"Jealous? Why?"  
"Love just seems to come to them so easily! But for us..." Rose trailed off and shrugged, staring at her shoes.  
"Is that what you meant?" Albert asked. "When you said this is what life is all about. It's about love?"  
Rose turned to Albert, giving him a small smile.  
"Love. Being with the person you love. Knowing that-"

And just like that, Albert kissed her. Bent down and kissed her, cutting her off mid-sentence. When he pulled away, he saw that Rose looked almost as surprised as he felt. _To hell with it_, Albert thought. _We're not at the office; we're not even in New York anymore. An Ohio train station is as good a place as any to try stepping out of our roles of boss and secretary for once_.  
"I'm- I'm sorry, Rose," he stammered, taking her hands in his. "Not for kissing you," he added hurriedly. Rose smirked. "But for making our love... difficult. You deserve so much better than me; better than a man who doesn't keep his promises, or stand up for you, or-"

This time, Rose interrupted Albert. Slowly she pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes.  
"It's ok, Albert. It may have taken eight years-" Albert grinned sheepishly.  
"But you're finally getting your act together. One last trip with Conrad-"  
"And then we're done. For good," Albert insisted. "I suppose I'll miss the music business, but...I'll teach English 'til the day I die if it means having you by my side."

Rose's mouth dropped open. She smiled and blushed and shook her head, clearly at a loss for words. "Oh, Albert," she whispered at last.

Albert grinned, a warm feeling filling his chest as he realized that he must have said the right thing. He had made Rose happy. He leaned in, cupping one of Rose's cheeks in his palm, and kissed her. He pulled away and, after a brief hesitation, kissed her again, his lips lingering on hers even longer than before.  
"I love you, Rosie," he whispered, his breath tickling her skin. He pulled away and saw that Rose was beaming back at him.  
"Albert, I-" Suddenly her eyes grew wide. "Oh no!" she moaned. Albert tensed. Had he done something wrong?  
"Rose, what is it?" he asked anxiously.  
"The mayor! We were supposed to meet him at the courthouse to introduce Conrad! Oh, they must have already started, unless of course they were waiting for us..." Rose fretted. She opened the briefcase and started anxiously pawing through its contents. "Albert, your speech _is_ in here, right?"

Albert put a hand over Rose's, stopping her frantic search. Her head snapped up as she stared at him.  
"Rose, they don't _really_ need us down there, do they? I'm sure they can manage without us..." Albert began. Rose gave him a stern look.  
"Albert..."  
"All right, all right! We'll go down to the courthouse. But, we're not in _that_ much of a hurry, are we?"

Rose rolled her eyes, but didn't disagree. She and Albert both stood. And with that, they moseyed off to the courthouse, walking hand in hand.

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**Thanks for reading!  
Review? **


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